“The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it.” Ansel Adams

And the light thing. It is called the golden hour and takes place around sunrise and sunset. The light has a very nice warm and golden colour and you get the best opportunity for the most atmosphere in photos. It is called the golden hour, but depending on the season and location on the globe it can take as long as a few hours (high north in the summer when the sun doesn’t set) to a few minutes if you are lucky, to not even happening due to weather conditions.

Hey, I’m just reporting what the ysay.

Not the way I use it. To me.

To beg the question does means “to raise the question.” (e.g. “It begs the question, why is he so dumb?”). Remember, the word “question” in the phrase refers to a literal question. Which is why the word … question … was chosen instead of, say, kumquat. This is the common usage of the term found among those who have the most to do with language, such as journalists, advertisers, and major mass media entities.

But I must say, your comment begs the qustion: “Why are there begging the question trolls?”

As for digital SLR – bah, the old film days required the greatest skills. For me the best cameras to use are still the ones which let you do all the work (focus, aperture, exposure). If I were still a rabid photographer I’d definitely go for a small or medium format digital SLR though; unlike many photographers I don’t have any great attachment to the darkroom – except when it comes to playing tricks with film. If I had some megabucks I’d build a medium format 3-color camera using 3 super sensitive “field transfer” CCDs – I’d even use some tricks so I could operate in a still stereoscopic mode, or I’d just go all apeshit and build a stereoscopic video recorder. At the moment I’m having a very hard time trying to convince people they should cough up some money to build a simple 2-color camera, so I guess I’ll only be dreaming about those 3-color stereoscopic beasts.

Also, they tested directly for camera effect by comparing pictures of the same person made with the different cameras and still found a significant effect. The better cameras do create a better picture. Of course, all the other things you mentioned, as far as underlying cause of them having a better camera, probably have some effect.